Thai Green Curry with Rice

You do not have to be Thai to cook Thai food! This dish will impress family and friends, it is not only simple and easy but creamy and fragrant too!I made the green curry paste from scratch and was surprised at how quick and simple it is!

Here is the recipe for the green curry paste, it makes 1 1/2 cups and the extra can be frozen for later:

– 1/2 tsp coriander seeds

– 1/4 tsp cumin seeds

– 6 white peppercorns

– 1T fish sauce

– 1/4 tsp ground turmeric

– 4 coriander roots, roughly chopped

– 1/2 cup coriander leaves, roughly chopped

– 2 lemongrass stems (the root only), roughly chopped

– 1 T freshly grated ginger

– 1 long green chilli, chopped

– 4 lime leaves (I buy these dry from my local chinese supermarket)

– 4 cloves garlic, halved

Method:

-Toast the coriander, cumin seeds and pepper in a pan over medium heat until fragrant, shaking the pan or stiring to prevent the spices from burning. Cool slightly.

– Transfer half the paste to a saucepan together with the lime leaves and boil to reduce the paste for 5 minutes on medium heat. The mixture should reduce to a thick consistency, stir to avoid the mixture from burning. Freeze the extra paste for another day. Defrost ahead of time, add lime leaves and boil.

The Green curry:

– Stir fry 2 cups of desired vegetables. Make a well in the centre of the vegetables and add the green curry. Let the paste start to boil and stir it through the vegetables. Lastly add any spinach as spinach cooks quickly. Stir fry the vegetables and paste together for 2 minutes until the paste has coated the vegetables.

– This can be made using chicken or fish. In this case you will cook your chicken or fish first, then remove from the pan and add it again to the final stir fry (after you have added the sauce) to reheat before serving.